I find myself still playing catch-up with reviews, and the book I want to focus on today is one I read earlier in the month during a really busy time at work. Needless to say, as it’s a lovely collection of Golden Age Crime short stories, it was the perfect read for a time of stress!! British Library Publishing have released a number of crime anthologies, all with a particular theme, and the latest is a fascinating collection called “Guilty Creatures“; subtitled “A Menagerie of Mysteries” it brings together a wonderful range of stories from over the decades, all with animals or birds involved in the action…
The most famous animal participant in classic crime is probably the titular Baskerville Hound in Conan Doyle’s famous story; and of course Holmes also took part in the notorious exchange about the incident of the dog in the night. So it’s no surprise that a Holmes story opens the collection, in the form of “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane“; this is a late outing in the detective’s career, and interestingly is narrated by the great man himself and not his normal chronicler, Dr. Watson. Needless to say, it’s excellent and the conclusion unexpected.
The choice of authors in “Guilty…” is interesting; there are better-known names like Chesterton, Edgar Wallace and Christianna Brand; however there are names which were new to me, such as Headon Hill, Vincent Cornier and Garnett Radcliffe. This made the collection a particularly enjoyable one to read, as I do love to encounter new authors!
The stories range far and wide with all kind of animal taking part, from F. Tennyson Jesse’s “The Green Parrakeet” in which the title bird is the key to uncovering a particularly devious crime. Then there’s Wallace’s “The Man Who Hated Earthworms“, which is a very entertaining tale of a mad scientist; Radcliffe’s “Pit of Screams“, a short, sharp story of a very clever crime; and Josephine Bell’s “Death in a Cage“, which I wouldn’t have worked out in a million years! Her writing is also particularly good, and she captures a sense of place here in much the same way as she did in “The Port of London Murders.” (This is a long quote, but I do find her prose very evocative.)
The fog that November night was thickest in Central and North London. Cars in the Mall, edging blindly about the wide roadway near Buckingham Palace, came to a standstill where the kerbs gave them no help. Queues of traffic formed behind drivers who, mistaking a gap in the pavement for Birdcage Walk, had jammed themselves against the railings. A slow procession moved around Hyde Park. In Knightsbridge the buses went to head to tail, scarcely moving. Further north the fog lay thickly upon Regent’s Park. The canal was invisible even from the bridges over it. No cars coming to the circles of this Park, because the street lamps there are set too far apart to be much use in fog. The unaccustomed absence of traffic joined with the blanket of fog to still all noise. Under the trees the gentle fall of drops from the branches above was startlingly loud.
Chesterton’s “The Oracle of the Dog” was a really interesting and quite dark read; I’ve always found the Father Brown stories a wee bit odd, and in this one the clerical detective managed to solve the puzzle without moving from his armchair; and he also had very strong views about the human tendency to attribute all sorts of powers and emotions to dogs! Brand’s “The Hornet’s Nest” was another treat; featuring her regular detective, Inspector Cockrill, it again flummoxed me till the end, and of the suspects available after the murder of the unpleasant Harold Caxton, I never would have picked the correct one!
Those who are quick in talking are not always quick in listening. Sometimes even their brilliancy produces a sort of stupidity. Father Brown’s friend and companion was a young man with a stream of ideas and stories, an enthusiastic young man named Fiennes, with eager blue eyes and blonde hair that seem to be brushed back, not merely with a hair-brush but with the wind of the world as he rushed through it. But he stopped in the torrent of his talk in a momentary bewilderment before he saw the priest’s very simple meeting.
Inevitably I come to the author I always hope to see in a BLCC anthology, and I wasn’t disappointed here either. H.C. Bailey’s marvellous Reggie Fortune is present in the story “The Yellow Slugs“, which is actually one I’ve read before; it features in a collection I have, assembled by Dorothy L. Sayers, and I wrote about it here. It’s a story in which a pair of youngsters appear to be guilty of heinous crimes, and it takes all Reggie’s skills to get to the truth of the matter which, as I said at the time, is clever, chilling and quite fiendish. Reading the story for a second time, I was impressed all over again; Reggie is a powerful creation, the story is really quite dark, and I know Bailey’s writing is considered an acquired taste, but I rate it very highly. He’s a compelling storyteller, and the Reggie stories I’ve read are some of my favourites.

H.C. Bailey – George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress) [Public domain via Wikimedia Commons]
(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher, for which many thanks!)
Jul 23, 2021 @ 07:06:27
This book looks fun. Love the title, The Man Who Hates Earthworms. The Hound of the Baskerville is always fun. 🐧🌷😃
Jul 23, 2021 @ 12:41:52
It is, and there’s a really interesting variety of styles which makes it very enjoyable!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 07:17:41
This sounds a really strong collection. I’ve still not read any HC Bailey, I really must get to him. I don’t know what Father Brown means – dogs definitely have all sorts of powers and emotions 😁
Jul 23, 2021 @ 12:41:19
It was a particularly good one, and I liked the mix of familiar and new authors. As for the Bailey, I love Reggie so am very biased. And I don’t agree with Father Brown at all – dogs (and all animals really) are the biz and highly intelligent!!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 07:46:39
And there goes any shred of respectable book buying restraint I might have had… 😜
Jul 23, 2021 @ 12:40:30
Sorry about that… (not). My restraint left the building ages ago!!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 08:20:29
Clever quote in your heading!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 12:40:10
LOL, yes, that’s from the Father Brown story obvs – he really was a bit odd but great fun!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 10:13:31
I have been surviving on BLCC books these last few weeks. Thank God for them, especially during all the nerve wrecking hospital stay. This seems to be perfect next book. I also need to find some HC Bailey to read soon!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 12:38:39
I can imagine that they’ve been a great comfort – I always find them the books to turn to in times of stress. This is a particularly good collection and I do hope you can find some HC Bailey – I just love Reggie!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 17:41:15
Wish I loved short stories more since these sound like fun. The British Library Crime Classics keeps finding some gems doesn’t it
Jul 23, 2021 @ 18:55:10
They’re great fun – and I do like short stories, so bite size chunks of classic crime are perfect. Totally agree about the BLCCs – they really have dug out some wonderful books!
Jul 23, 2021 @ 21:36:42
I was sent this collection too. These anthologies are so well put together, containing such a good range of writers. It’s always reassuring to come across those well known names.
Jul 24, 2021 @ 11:18:19
They are – and I liked this one especially because of the variety. It’s the perfect mix of old favourites and new discoveries!
Jul 24, 2021 @ 00:11:18
Oh good. Another BLCC collection to look forward to!
Jul 24, 2021 @ 11:17:22
LOL! They’re always a particular treat!
Jul 24, 2021 @ 09:56:15
This does sound delightful, and such a clever theme for an anthology of stories – the British Library are so good when it comes to compiling these things! I was also lucky enough to receive a copy of this one, so it’s great to see some familiar names (Chesterton, Conan Doyle and Josephine Bell) alongside the lesser-known writers (e.g. Headon Hill – a pen name perhaps?).
Jul 24, 2021 @ 11:16:55
It’s a great collection, and perhaps an unusual theme but very effective – as you say, the BL are so clever at doing these. Headon Hill is indeed a pen-name (as are a couple of these if I remember correctly) but what I particularly liked about this one was the variety of writing – and of course that there was a Reggie story!
Jul 25, 2021 @ 16:45:34
That is an unusual idea for a collection but seems to have been carried out well. Slugs, though?!
Jul 25, 2021 @ 20:05:37
It is, but it was really successful! As for the slugs – they were an essential part of the plot, but I shall say no more!!
Jul 27, 2021 @ 09:50:16
I really enjoyed this collection. Fun, easy to read and the stories complemented each other.
Jul 27, 2021 @ 14:33:03
It’s an excellent selection isn’t it? Just great fun to read.
Sep 22, 2021 @ 07:00:50